NIGERIA: An Introduction

Nigeria’s population is estimated to exceed 200 million, making it the most populous nation in Africa. This population size presents many economic opportunities, which in turn mean persons desirous of taking advantage of such opportunities will need to seek legal services. Nigeria suffers from a poor ranking in various indices related to the doing of business and, despite of having Africa’s largest economy, fails to achieve anything approaching its true potential as a result.

Nigeria’s economic growth slowed during 2022, owing to a decline in its output of crude oil (its primary source of foreign currency earnings). Its GDP rose by 3.1% year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2022, which is a mere 0.5% more than its annual population growth of 2.6%. As with all nations, inflation in Nigeria surged during 2022. Despite higher oil export revenues, official foreign currency reserves have fallen.

All is not, however, gloomy. A number of sectors experienced significant growth during 2022. These include transport, finance, insurance, information and communication, the arts and entertainment sector – along with accommodation and food services.

Trends and Developments in Nigerian Dispute Resolution

2023 is an election year in Nigeria, with elections scheduled for February and March. Nigerian elections regularly result in litigation – with disputes between individuals aspiring to be nominated for tickets beginning well in advance of the actual elections, as well as disputes between failed hopefuls following the declaration of results. The cases resulting from this activity tend to worsen the already slow pace of Nigerian courts.

Regrettably, for more than three decades now, Nigerian courts have moved further and further from actually deciding cases on their merits to a jurisprudence mired in technicalities. This has left the courts essentially unable to play the sort of role that is required in most nations, thereby encouraging resort to other means of resolving commercial and other disputes. Orders of the courts are regularly ignored as a result of the inefficiencies of the process and system of adjudication.

New Legislation Related to Doing Business in Nigeria

The Business Facilitation Act 2022 (BCA) seeks to amend some 21 business-related laws in Nigeria in order to make legislation more favourable for doing business in Nigeria. Whether this goal is achieved remains open to question, given the level of bureaucracy introduced by the legislation. The Start-Up Act, which was passed in July 2022 and assented to by the President in October, aims to foster the creation and development of an enabling environment for technology start-ups in Nigeria. It has also created a new set of bureaucracies that clients will have to navigate. The regular tinkering with the Money Laundering (Prohibition and Prevention) Act continued, with the introduction of a 2022 version.

Navigating Bureaucratic Difficulties in Nigeria

The major hurdles encountered by clients in Nigeria relate to the levels of bureaucracy that exist at every level of government, the inefficiencies of these bureaucracies, the challenges that businesses and individuals face in trying to find the means to navigate through them in a lawful manner, and the inability of the courts to provide proper adjudication and resolutions to disputes.

In spite of the obstacles, it is nevertheless possible for clients to overcome them with the assistance of good advisers – including those from the legal profession.